Preforming a Miracle
by Reedtown
Summary: Random one-shot I FELT LIKE WRITING. Also, this was the first fanfiction I've ever wrote. Please don't eat me. x'D


It was some hour in the time before dawn. Not like it mattered, much. No one who happened to be in the Rockbell household had gotten any sleep that night due to a certain mechanic's water breaking and her need to be watched over. It was a week before the baby had been predicted to be born and the stubborn thing was fighting his hardest to break free, fed up with being in such an enclosed space. His mother, however, was quite frustrated with this fact.

"You couldn't have waited...until...I was actually expecting...this..." Winry managed as another painful contraction clamped down on her stomach. With all the force her tired, cobalt gaze could muster, she sent a glare over in Edward Elric's direction. "This is _your _fault."  
The blond had been sitting quietly on the opposide side of the room while Al and Pinako had rushed about, trying to take care of everything. They told him he was only being a nuisance, so the alchemist retreated to a corner. Brow furrowing, Ed gave a small huff and crossed his arms. "How's it _my _fault?" he retorted, meeting her glare with one of his own.  
"Is. Just. IS," Winry shot back, hands gripping the sides of the bed so hard her knuckles turned white. Of course, it was equally her fault as well. It took a man and a woman to create new life, so she had to take some of the blame. ...But blaming Edward helped to keep her mind off the kicks the baby insisted land on her spine. "Stop being...so useless...and get over here!"

Almost wincing at the sharp tone to her words, the Fullmetal Alchemist hopped off his chair and walked over, a bit hesitant at what the mechanic wanted.

"Give me your hand. Now."

Complying, Ed offered her his right hand and was suddenly thankful it was made out of metal. The death-grip his fiancee now had on his automail probably could have broken bones. "Ahh, y-you okay Winry?"  
Bad choice of words. "DO I LOOK OKAY, ED? THIS THING IS TRYING TO TEAR A HOLE IN MY STOMACH!" She only squeezed his hand tighter as the contractions grew almost unbearably painful and more frequent, causing sweat to bead on her face as she flopped back against the pillows, breathing heavily.  
Swallowing the rising fear in his throat, he tried to think about this logically. Of course he knew how a baby was made. He had partaken in the events that _made _the fetus, obviously, so he knew of the emotion impact as well as the science behind it. But never knew the birthing process could be a million times more stressful when it involved the girl you had known, and possibly loved your whole life. All of this ricocheting thoughts bouncing around inside his skull did nothing for Ed's fears, however. If anything, they amplified them.  
"Ed..." Winry murmured, pulling the young man straight out of his musings. "Get...Get Granny. It's time." Oh yes, it was most definitely time. This baby definitely took after his father; he was stubborn as hell and if he wanted something, he was going to push until he got it.  
Blinking, it took him a moment to register what she meant. Then, he noticed the small amounts of carmine liquid on the bedsheets and jumped to his feet, gently pulling his hand from the woman's grasp. "Y-yeah! I'll be right back!" With that, he sprinted from the room, nearly tripping over his boots in the process. "Granny! Granny Pina--" Edward was forced to skid to a stop as he saw the old woman returning to her granddaughter's room with a basin of hot water and towels. Alphonse was behind her, a few blankets resting in his arms. "...It's...He...Time...Now..." Ed panted, pointing helplessly over his shoulder.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Move!" Pinako ordered as the boy pressed himself to the wall to let her and his younger brother through. Making her way into the room, the veteran mechanic set the tub of water on a side table and got some information from Winry before checking vital signs. "Yup, he's almost here. Let's deliver this bullheaded kid." Slipping on a pair of rubber gloves, she threw a blanket over Winry's lower body as the two Elric brothers peeked in through the doorway.

"Can...Can we come in?" Al asked in a curious, yet quiet voice, the shadow of his armor completely engulfing his anxious looking older brother. This would be the second birth they had been involved in, but this time, it was the birth of family.

"Edward, get in here," Winry demanded, sounding weaker than before as her energy was being sapped away by the force of effort her labor was taking. When she saw he hesitated, she included a begging "Please?"

Shuffling across the wood floor, the blond was once again at her side, finding her fingers interlaced with his own in a hold that was, to put it simply, both loving and exhausted. "H-hey, Win?" he tried, his Big Brother complex not letting his agitation show. "Y...You gonna be all right?"

A pained smile tweaked the corners of the automail engineer's lips and she gave a slight nod in reply to his question. "Don't blame me if I break your hand, okay?" As if on cue, the muscles in her stomach contracted and she clasped his hand tightly, the metal digits making small squeaking noises from the pressure. "Nnn..."

"Your work is far from over, Winry. It hasn't even started yet," Pinako reminded her, admiring the fact she had weathered this so far without any sort of pain medicine. Rockbell women truly were tough. "Looks like you're fully dilated. Ready? Deep breaths, now..."

"Grandma! I can't DO THIS!" It had been an agonizing twenty minutes of pushing and nothing seemed to be giving. Tears streaked down the machine geek's cheeks as she panted, feeling a cooling sensation as Edward placed a damp rag over her forehead. If she had known giving birth felt like _this..._

"You can do it, Winry," Al told her, handing the old woman a few towels to soak up some blood. "You're almost there!"

"Yeah. The automail junkie _I _ know wouldn't give up," the State Alchemist stated in that cocky, proud voice of his; although everyone in the room knew that his tone was an undeniable facade of his true feelings.  
Taking a deep breath, filling her lungs to the brims, Winry Rockbell tried one last time. Her left hand held Ed's, her right one clutched the railing of the bed, and her ankles dug into the mattress. Finally, she felt downward movement and the pressure increase tenfold as the baby crowned, nearly born into the world. Determination set in her face and she kept at it, vaguely noticing the tension in the room rise as three pair of eyes were on a place she would rather not have them. "Come...ON...already!" The head was free, then the shoulders...Then the rest was easy. Spotting of blood fell onto the towels laid on the bed and Ed got the honor—or was it a punishment?--to tie off and cut the cord of his newborn...daughter!? Gold eyes widened as the small child was placed on her mother's belly, the proud great-grandmother wiping off the various fluids from her tiny body as she let out a healthy howl, proving to the world that she was alive.

"She..." Edward murmured in awe, feeling a maelstrom of emotions bubble to the surface. "She's so...small." So fragile looking, in fact, it seemed the baby would break if he touched her. He was so caught up in the moment that he didn't even realize the hand that had been occupied a moment ago had returned to his side.

"You're an idiot, Ed."

"H-huh? Wa...wait! Why are you calling me an idiot!?" Quickly, his gaze snapped over to the side, meeting Winry's gaze.  
"Because," she continued cradling their daughter in her arms, "Because of getting me pregnant. Because of making me go through this. BECAUSE..." She stopped, looking thoughtful behind the drained aura she put off.

"...B-because _what?_"

"Because I love you."

A flustered blush reddened Ed's cheeks and he fidgeted with his automail. That was definitely something he hadn't been expecting to hear. Although he had grown up a few years—was eighteen considered mature?--those three simple words still stopped his brain from functioning. "I-I know." That was all he was going to say, but the stares from Pinako and Alphonse forced him to return the words. "I love you too, Winry."

A pleased smile crossed her face as the mechanic held out the pink bundle to her dearest friend and future husband. "It's your turn to hold her."  
He tried to hold up his hands in protest, not trusting himself with such a precious thing, but he finally caved in and took the baby in a gentle, but protective hold. "We did this, huh?"  
"Yes. And if you run off on my grandchildren now, I'll have to beat you to death with your own automail," Pinako put in as she wiped her hands off, looking happy despite her words.

Taken aback, the alchemist wanted to throw up his arms and shout that he'd never do such a thing, but the baby had finally stopped fussing, and Winry looked like she had quite the migraine. "Heh, the only way you'd get me to leave this machine geek is if you chained me to a train or something." After a moment's thought, he realized that they had picked out a name for the son they thought they were going to have, but not a name for the little girl he held now. "She needs a name. Something...badass. Like Xena."

A small sigh came from the blond woman and she crossed her arms over her chest. "Really, Ed? I don't think our daughter is going to grow up into some kind of jungle princess. Something _normal,_ please."

"But she comes from badass parents!" he retorted, frowning slightly. "She needs a badass name to go with her heritage." Seeing Winry's glare, he finally sighed and looked down at the creature who shared half his genes. "What about... we name her after your mom?"  
"My mom? Sara Elric..." Pondering on this thought for a long moment, she noticed that they were alone in the room. Pinako and Al had left, most likely to put the soiled cloths into the wash before the stains set in. "She'll need a middle name... What about Trisha? Sara Trisha Elric?"  
Surprisingly, that didn't sound half bad and it seemed to fit like the final puzzle piece in the life he had been working to put together for so long. Edward gave her a thumbs up, showing his approval. But, a slight tug made his gaze dip down, seeing baby Sara grabbing onto his automail fanscinated by the shine it gave off. "Hah...Looks like she takes after you, Winry. Please don't teach her to throw wrenches at me."  
"No promises, Ed. No promises. After all, most of the time you deserve it."

Although it sounded like abuse, both knew it was really code for "I love you with all my heart, please don't let that change." And it didn't change.


End file.
